La Vorgna To Replace Loeser At City Hall Press Shop

Mike Bloomberg announced today that Marc La Vorgna has been named as the replacement to longtime press secretary Stu Loeser.

According to the administration, Mr. Loeser is the longest serving mayoral press secretary in history. His departure was announced in The New York Times last night.

“Stu can identify problems before they happen and make sure they don’t happen, and I have no doubt Stu Loeser kept me out of more trouble than he got me out of,” Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement. “And Stu excelled at the most important task I give any member of my team – finding someone even better to take his place. I’ve worked closely with Marc over the last few years and know he is going to be able to do even more to help us transform New York City and the world.”

Mr. La Vorgna joined the Mayor’s Press Office in September 2008 after a stint in the press shop of the Port Authority. He took a brief leave while there to help lead the efforts of the Barack Obama campaign in New York during the primary season, one of the few NYC operatives to line up on the other side of hometown senator Hillary Clinton. In addition to his duties as a deputy to Mr. Loeser, Mr. La Vorgna helped lead some of the mayor’s national efforts, including the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition and the Partnership for a New American Economy immigration reform coalition.

“It has been an honor to be a part of an Administration that never backs away from directly taking on any difficult issue and always looks for new for ways to tackle the challenges the city presents to make life better for New Yorkers – and that tone is set at the top by the Mayor,” said Mr. La Vorgna. “I want to thank the Mayor for this incredible opportunity to be a part of building on the progress we’ve made in New York City.”

As for Mr. Loeser, it is hard to imagine a Bloomberg press shop without him at the helm, where he has sat for the past six-and-a-half years. As the mayor’s office announced in a release–a release surely overseen by Mr. Loeser– he has overseen the press operations in the mayor’s office and every city agency, and managed the city’s communications responses to breaking news in New York and around the world, and helped design, roll out and explain every initiative undertaken by Mayor Bloomberg and the Bloomberg Administration in its second and third terms.

And further:

As Mayor Bloomberg’s chief spokesman, Loeser has designed and implemented long-term strategies to make New York City a leading international force on environmental sustainability, illegal guns and immigration. He has overseen all press inquiries and news stories from City Hall and more than 40 agencies. Loeser also has been Mayor Bloomberg’s principal aide responsible for briefing and preparing him for multiple press conferences and question and answer sessions with the media every week. In recent years, he has worked especially closely with the Mayor crafting defenses of New York’s financial services industry and pitching technology companies to start or expand here.

The Politicker wishes both Mr. Loeser and Mr. La Vorgna the best in their latest endeavors.